Chef Eskender Aseged sits in his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen. Aseged started out with a "pop-up" restaurant that had no set location before settling to his current space.

Chef Eskender Aseged sits in his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen. Aseged started out with a "pop-up" restaurant that had no set location before settling to his current space.

Photo: Codi Mills / The Chronicle

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A bunch of rainbow Swiss chard awaits preparation at Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

A bunch of rainbow Swiss chard awaits preparation at Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif.

Photo: Codi Mills / The Chronicle

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Chef Eskender Aseged prepares a tomato sauce for a dish at his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. Aseged focuses on fresh food that has been minimally processed to pay homage to his Ethiopian roots. less

Chef Eskender Aseged prepares a tomato sauce for a dish at his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. Aseged focuses on fresh food that has been minimally processed to ... more

Photo: Codi Mills / The Chronicle

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Chef Eskender Aseged prepares kabocha squash alicha at his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. The dish is made with kabocha squash, beluga lentils and fresh rainbow Swiss chard. less

Chef Eskender Aseged prepares kabocha squash alicha at his restaurant Radio Africa & Kitchen on February 8, 2014 in San Francisco, Calif. The dish is made with kabocha squash, beluga lentils and fresh rainbow ... more

Thirst: Bookmark this link: Jon Bonné’s annual collection of twenty great wines that are each available in local stores for $20 or less. “Not lowest common denominator. Not factory wine. Wines that can sit on your dinner table with pride.”

California Local: In her ongoing series about California cuisine, Joyce Goldstein profiles Eskender Aseged, chef/owner of Radio Africa & Kitchen in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood. In addition to having a singular journey to San Francisco (from leaving his home in Ethiopia on foot to working with Daniel Humm at Campton Place as a waiter), Aseged was also a pioneer in the realm of pop-up restaurants a decade ago:

In 2005, while still at Campton, he opened Radio Africa & Kitchen, catering as well as cooking dinners every Thursday in his home in the Mission. As one of the Bay Area’s first pop-up chefs, his dinners sold out so quickly that he started serving dinners in his home, then started popping up at small restaurants on nights when they were closed.

“I wasn’t trying to be cool,” he says. “I was cooking out of necessity and passion.”

As he cooked more and more and got feedback from loyal diners, he evolved a personal style, a mixture of Ethiopian, North African and Mediterranean cuisines. After eight years of pop-ups and catering, and with the help of the city, he was finally able to open his own place.

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